St John's Church is the

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in com ...

Cononley Cononley ( or ) is a village and civil parish in the county of North Yorkshire, England. Cononley is in the Airedale, Aire Valley south of Skipton and with an estimated population of 1,080 (2001 est.), measured at 1,172 at the United Kingdom ...

, a village in

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in Northern England.The Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority areas of City of York, York and North Yorkshire (district), North Yorkshire are in Yorkshire and t ...

, in England. A National School was opened in Cononley in 1846, and it was also used to hold Anglican church services. From 1854, the

curate A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' () of souls of a parish. In this sense, ''curate'' means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy who are as ...

J. D. Wawn was based in the village, and he fundraised for the construction of a church in the village. It was designed by

F. H. Pownall Frederick Hyde Pownall (22 August 1831 – 1907) was a British architect. He was County Surveyor for Middlesex for about 45 years, and designed both Anglican and Roman Catholic churches. Life He was the son of John George Henry Pownall (179 ...

and was completed in 1864, at a cost of £1,200. It was consecrated by the

Bishop of Ripon The Bishop of Ripon is an episcopal title which takes its name after the city of Ripon in North Yorkshire, England. The bishop is one of the area bishops of the Diocese of Leeds in the Province of York. The area bishop of Ripon has oversight o ...

on the day of the

Feast of Saint James The Feast of Saint James, also known as Saint James' Day, is a commemoration of the apostle James the Great celebrated on July 25 of the liturgical calendars of the Catholic Church and the Church of England. The Eastern Orthodox liturgical ...

. It was initially a

chapel of ease A chapel of ease (or chapel-of-ease) is a church architecture, church building other than the parish church, built within the bounds of a parish for the attendance of those who cannot reach the parish church conveniently, generally due to trav ...

to St Andrew's Church, Kildwick, but was given its own parish in 1871. The church was damaged by a major fire on 25 November 1946, in which most of the roof was destroyed, along with the

vestry A vestry was a committee for the local secular and ecclesiastical government of a parish in England, Wales and some English colony, English colonies. At their height, the vestries were the only form of local government in many places and spen ...

, but the windows, altar and war memorial survived. The church was described on completion as "plan and substantial". It is in the Geometrical Gothic style and contains a continuous nave and chancel. There is a

bellcote A bellcote, bell-cote or bell-cot is a small framework and shelter for one or more bells. Bellcotes are most common in church architecture but are also seen on institutions such as schools. The bellcote may be carried on brackets projecting from ...

at the west end, and a gilded cross at the east end. A chancel screen was installed in 1893 by Wawn's widow, in his memory.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cononley, St John Churches completed in 1864 Church of England church buildings in North Yorkshire Churches in Craven, Yorkshire Cononley